Maria Camila Ceballos Betancourt

Dr. Maria Camila Ceballos graduated in Animal Science in Colombia, at The National University of Colombia (2010). Following the completion of her undergraduate studies, she has worked in the field of animal welfare and behavior, first as a researcher in the CIPAV Foundation (Center for Research in Sustainable Systems of Agricultural Production), in Colombia, focusing on the evaluation of dairy and beef cattle welfare and behavior in sustainable production systems. Then, she started a Masters at the São Paulo State University (UNESP) in Brazil, addressing the effects of handling frequency of cattle kept under rotational and alternative grazing systems, with a focus on how cattle handling impacted their temperament. Afterward, she completed her Ph.D. at the same University (UNESP), focused on human-cattle relationships and its effects on cattle welfare, as reflected in temperament, behavior, physiology, and performance measures. By the end of her Ph.D. program, Maria Camila secured an internship at the Animal Welfare Science Centre (University of Melbourne - Australia), where she participated in a project focused on the human-animal relationship and dairy cattle welfare. In 2018, she started working at the University of Pennsylvania, the USA, as a post-doctoral researcher, mainly focusing on assessing the welfare and behavior of breeding sows housed in different housing systems. Dr. Ceballos is currently an Assistant Professor in Beef Cattle Welfare and Behavior, W.A. Ranches at the University of Calgary, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine.